PARRISH, FLA.—Profit On Hold, a marketing company headquartered here, has been creating on hold message programs for the flooring industry for 16 
years. For Jon McCrensky, vice president, the key to the company’s success has everything to do with marketing and volume.
Through his experiences in coordinating marketing continuity programs in the licensing industry, where his clients have included such notables as Oleg Cassini, Adolfo, Lanvin and other international designers, the product placement program developed by McCrensky and Profit On Hold is designed to place the carpet mill’s message onto retailer on-hold messages and provide exposure to consumers for three years or more.
How does it work? “When your retailer sells your product he will have a one-time credit toward that purchase in return for his incorporating your message into his,” said McCrensky. “The amount of the credit is directly related to the cost of the original Profit On Hold message program cost.
“Consider the number of calls a retailer receives in the course of a day,” he noted. “Now, to grasp the marketing impact of the program, multiply that times three years times 600 retailers nationally. And it can be paid with merchandise against a guaranteed sale!”
Product placement, a long time marketing strategy used by over the counter consumer product manufacturers and their agencies for product exposure in both motion pictures and television shows, has been utilized by Profit On Hold in the production of its on-hold flooring industry message programs.
“For a $150 merchandise credit against a guaranteed sale,” said McCrensky, “a flooring manufacturer can communicate directly to the consumer before a product selection has been made and have exclusivity in its product category, thus precluding competition from participating.
“What’s more,” he added, “is that this commercial message will continue to be delivered to consumers every single day the store is open for business for up to three years or more. This opportunity to influence the end user’s ultimate choice transmitted through the retailer’s telephone on-hold message program doesn’t cost the manufacturer a thing unless a sale of its product is made and then the mill credits the retailer’s purchase.”
As a manufacturer of a product sold nationally through flooring retailers, McCrensky explained, “it would be in the mill’s best interests if it could convince each retailer to promote its brand to its customers. In addition to the national exposure it would receive, the mill would also be creating marketing continuity by having each of its 300 or 800 or thousands of stores tell the consumer the exact same message about its product.”
Recently, McCrensky had what he calls an “Ah ha” moment that he believes will actually transform the company’s on-hold message content. “We had been asking our clients when scripting their messages, ‘What do you sell?’ when we should be asking, ‘Why are you selling it?’ This makes the retailer reach down into the faith he has in the products and brands he sells and communicate the actual advantages he sees in the consumer purchasing brand ‘A’ over brand ‘B.’”
Profit On Hold has been serving the on-hold message needs of the flooring and furniture industries for more than 16 years now, creating commercial and retail programs as well as corporate ones.
If you are interested in finding out more about the Profit On Hold product placement program, call 941.747.4620 or email profithold@aol.com.
-Louis Iannaco